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The Canadian flat track scene has produced some great racers over the years, and that can most likely be attributed to some fantastic bar banging battles that occur every weekend during the summer. Despite the great racing offered here however, there has always been the appeal for our riders to head stateside to try their luck. Whether it is for a race or two or for a whole season and whether your goal is to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Chris Carr or to obtain the status of grizzled veteran John Parker (who seems to be the unofficial mayor of the TT in Medina, NY), Canadians still want to head south to race.

To the untrained observer, most tracks that hold flat track races may appear to be very similar. This is to say that they are all somewhat oval, and they all have four turns. While the size difference between certain tracks should be obvious to most, other characteristics such as track surface may be harder to spot from your seat in the bleachers on a Saturday night.

Doug Lawrence of Mississauga, ON rode the Town Moto/Motovan/26 Suspension-sponsored Honda CRF450 to a 12th place finish at the Daytona Short Track, the first race in the 2014 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship. He was the only Canadian entered and earned seven GNC points for his efforts. It was Lawrence's best career finish in the annual season opener at Daytona.

We have been approached twice in the last year by 'Phantom Sponsors' and, I’ll be honest, I just don’t get it. For those who are unaware, my family is made up of racing enthusiasts with a son who is lucky enough to live his dream of racing flat track. As we are also very much a middle-class family, Braden couldn’t race without the generous support of great sponsors.

One of the problems that has always faced flat track racers is tires, or to be more precise, the lack thereof. With flat track tires being such a specialty item, you just can’t go to your local Yamaha or Honda dealer and order a set. In fact you will likely find that most dealers will be confused as to what you are actually after. There is a Maxxis warehouse in Brampton, ON, but despite numerous phone calls and emails, nobody has ever got back to me about my tire requests.

Inside Motorcycles-sponsored teen flat track sensation Braden Vallee has submitted a video to Champion Spark Plugs 'Search for a Champion' contest. The 15 racers whose videos get the most votes by February 2 will be selected to be a part of #TeamChampion in 2014, which includes $5,000 in Champion sponsorship and compete for a grand prize sponsorship of $50,000.

September 26, 2013- The racing series might have been new, but by the time it was over there were a lot of familiar faces leading their respective classes. With a schedule that included seven races over five very different tracks, the inaugural season wrapped up with a Friday The 13th matinee in Simcoe.